


the only thing that matters

by Jedi Buttercup (jedibuttercup)



Category: Fast & Furious (2009), Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Choices, F/M, M/M, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-22 16:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12486040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedibuttercup/pseuds/Jedi%20Buttercup
Summary: If the last few days had proven anything, it was that the sense of recognition he'd felt back then hadn't been a mistake after all.  So why wouldn't Brian be with Dom in this, too?





	the only thing that matters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GotTheSilver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GotTheSilver/gifts).



> I got to thinking about extreme loyalty, shades of gray, and forks in the road for this canon, and the first thing that came to mind for me was that moment in Fast & Furious in the church. It's always felt like that was a major turning point for them....

"Hermano. You and me," Braga said, staring up at Dom from where they'd caught him praying. "You and me, we're not so different. You're no hero."

 _Brother_ , he said, in that same self-assured tone from the club in LA, as if bargaining for his life was no different from hiring drivers to run his goods. As if that didn't spit on the whole concept of family. As if he was the one still in control here.

Dom snapped his shotgun closer to the drug lord's face, spurred by an urge to wipe that look off his face. "You're right," he growled, tone dark and menacing. "I'm no hero."

For a moment, he thought Braga would flinch; but the drug lord was too full of himself for that. "Why me, and not the guy who drove the car? Fenix too tough of a target? Or the woman who helped hire your girl and stood by every time a group of drivers was killed — you really think _she's_ any better? And what about the guy who told me the feds had sent in a mole? Going to kill all of those people, too?"

Dom heard Brian draw a sharp breath behind him, but the buster covered it with a swift, unyielding reply. "You think we _won't_? Especially Mister Caring and Sharing, there. Strange how he didn't warn you about _me_ , isn't it, if he's so deep in the system?"

"Oh, I'd like to see that," Braga laughed, low and smug. "He's as far above the likes of you as _el cielo_. I'll still be valuable to him even in prison; you're barely a blip on his radar. You didn't even bury the right body — just think about all the people that had to be paid off for that. Let me guess, you're here without your boss' knowledge? You're no hero either, _Agent O'Conner_."

"Didn't even...." Dom stiffened in rage, and it was only by the slimmest of margins that he managed to keep the shotgun steady. After Kenny Linder, after Lompoc, he'd made an effort not to let his anger rule him; if he was going to kill this asshole — and he _was_ — it would be because of what he'd done, not because Dom lost all reason.

"...went under long before I went rogue," Brian was saying as he checked back into the conversation. "Unless you're claiming you knew I was FBI all along. Hey, Dom. Say there really is some other bad guy out there who seems to want this loose end tied up. Does that change anything about why we came down here?"

"No, Brian," Dom growled, still staring into Braga's eyes. "It really doesn't."

Maybe when they'd first arrived, somewhere deep down, Dom would have been receptive to a nudge to be the better man. If Braga had showed fear or regret; if Brian had hesitated over the fact that they were about to kill a man in cold blood. It might have given him enough space to back down and offer the drug lord up on the altar of Brian's FBI career. Give up the shot-caller, so long as he still got to take down the trigger-man. But now....

He looked down into the unapologetic gaze of the fucker whose orders had led to Letty's death, and was glad he wouldn't have to. That Brian had walked into this with open eyes, and that Mia's only concern had been that they come back, not that there was anything wrong with what they'd set out to do. Whatever he did now, he'd still have them behind him — and one less threat at their door.

Besides, being honorable just led to assholes like Johnny Tran coming back later to take his revenge on Dom's family. Family was everything. Braga? Braga was _nothing_. 

Intention made all the difference. Dom's anger ran clear and cool, and he tightened his finger on the trigger.

"Shit," Brian muttered, stooping to rescue a black duffel bag from the sticky pool spreading on the floor. The blood money Braga had brought his priest; good call, they'd need it more than the old church needed more fancy renovations. "Better get moving; the guards'll have heard that."

"Bring 'em on," Dom replied grimly. "Though a better venue's probably a good idea. Back to the border?"

Brian eyed the body again, then shook his head, heading for the side door they'd snuck in from. "Why make it easy on the feds? You got another place to go until we can contact your sister?"

Dom had a lot of places he could go, a lot of cousins scattered around, and a lot of contacts from his father's career or from the racing he'd done in Mexico. But one in particular stuck out: he'd earned a lot of goodwill in the DR, stealing gasoline shipments to break the artificial shortage, including from a guy named Mando with a place like a fortress. Dom hadn't wanted to trespass on his goodwill for protection when the only trouble was cops raiding affiliated garages, but this was another story altogether. 

"Might be a challenge to get there. But yeah, I do."

Brian hung back behind him, turning to fire his handgun over his shoulder at the first bodyguard through the door after them. "Good. Then let's make tracks."

No questions, no hesitation; ride or die, like he hadn't spent the last five years wearing a badge with every evidence of dedication.

Like one last gift from Letty, bringing Brian back into his life in a way it would be impossible for them both to ignore. Dom brushed his fingers against the pocket he'd tucked her silver necklace in before leaving the States, then slid into the driver's seat of the Charger and turned the key in the ignition.

Time for one more race. And the Charger had never seen a set of taillights.

* * *

Dom only saw Brian pause once over the course of the next few days; after they escaped the cavalcade of Braga's goons and temporarily went to ground in a small town where Dom knew a guy who knew a guy. He'd offered Brian the burner phone he'd gotten from a contact, asked if he wanted to be the one to call Mia.

Brian had stared at the phone, the blood draining out of his face, leaving him grim and more than usually pale. But then he'd set his jaw, took the phone, and walked out of hearing distance.

Dom didn't bother trying to eavesdrop; whatever she had to say was between them. And when Brian returned the phone half an hour later, his eyes were bloodshot but there was color in his face again. But then he informed Dom that Mia would be flying into the Dominican Republic with or without their assistance, and didn't back down even when the phone case creaked in Dom's hand.

"And you _agreed_ to that?" Dom replied. "I love my sister, but she doesn't deserve a life on the run."

"She's _your sister_ , Dom," Brian replied with a lopsided smile. The words were sharp-edged, almost a taunt — but there was a glint in Brian's eyes too, one that Dom had always found hard to look away from. "There's no letting her do anything; it's her choice, and she says she won't be left behind again. Says she signed on to share me when she encouraged me to go with you, not to spend another five years under FBI surveillance missing what's left of her family. How am I supposed to say no to that?"

"Share _you_?" Dom retorted. _That_ was her angle of attack?

He knew his sister's opinions on him, gravity, and their circle of friends, after all ... and yet, she _had_ taken a chance on Brian anyway. Taken that chance again, when Dom's business had dragged his orbit back across her path. Now that he thought about it, that _was_ worthy of comment. 

"She's known you what, a month total, maybe two?" he continued teasingly, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did you end up the important factor here?"

"I've known _you_ pretty much exactly the same amount of time," Brian reminded him wryly, eyes still laser-sharp on Dom's face. "I'm just that good, I guess. Besides. Tell me you won't feel better with her close."

Dom considered that, thinking about everything that had happened; about Letty seeking Brian out after Dom had left her behind to draw off the heat, about his little sister abandoning her career to follow them. About what it meant, that Mia had reacted to Brian at least as strongly as Dom had; that maybe, beneath it all, he'd reacted to Brian the same way _she_ had. And that in neither case did Brian seem all that opposed to being claimed by Torettos.

About the three of them making a future together, maybe in Rio with Vince, maybe in some no-extradition country halfway 'round the world. 

Probably not that last, though; there was still Fenix to consider, plus at least one other drug lord out there with a hate-on for Brian, part of that business in Miami that the feds had swept under the rug before signing the buster to their roster. They'd have to hire a hacker, too, to track back Braga's backer and find out what _had_ happened to Letty's body. Might as well get hanged for a sheep as a lamb, if they were going to go around taking out threats to the family. 

"I'll feel better with _both_ of you close," he admitted, voice sinking to a low rumble. 

Brian blinked at that, his smirk fading into something far more open, gaze warm on Dom's face. "I know it wasn't a banner day for you guys, but I really think the best thing that ever happened to me was walking into the store that first time. Flirting with Mia over the bad tuna. Catching your eye when you looked up from the books. By the time we were headed to Race Wars, the office felt more like the cover, not doing dishes with her or working with you on the Supra."

Dom stepped closer, setting down the phone and reaching out to rest a palm on Brian's chest. He didn't need to feel the buster's heart thundering under the touch to read the truth in that carefully even-handed list of references. He'd always been able to read Brian like that; the revelation that Brian was a cop had stung even worse because of it, because he'd thought it meant everything _else_ had been some kind of act on the other man's part. But if the last few days had proven anything, it was that the sense of recognition he'd felt back then hadn't been a mistake after all. So why wouldn't he be with Dom in this, too?

"Letty thought it was funny, how fast I took to you," he said, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Said maybe there'd be fewer skanks to scare off with you around."

"Yeah, I kinda got that impression when she hunted me down," Brian snorted. "If it had all gone the way it was supposed to...."

"Not thinking about that right now," Dom shook his head, hand sliding up to grip Brian's shoulder. "Got a few more urgent things on my mind."

"Like taking care of Fenix before Mia gets here?" Brian replied, that glint in his eye again. "Somewhere ... nice and private. You got a hold of that friend of yours, the chameleon?"

"Set up a meet with him for day after tomorrow. In the meantime...." Dom's grip tightened.

"Yeah, yeah. I got this," Brian smirked, finally reaching back, hands sliding up Dom's flanks.

"Yeah, you do," Dom growled, then leaned in for a hard kiss.

This particular quarter mile might not be over yet, but there, in that moment, they were free. And once they took care of Fenix and picked up Mia.... Well, then they'd see what they'd see.


End file.
